Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers’ choices that create a
narrative voice?
Do Now: What does it mean to you when you hear the phrase: "to come of age"?
For the Do Now, we had a class discussion where we either passed the “conch” or “ghosted” to share our thoughts on what the phrase “to come of age” means to us.
Justin started us off by saying that it means reaching maturity and adulthood.
Randy and Emily added on, saying it’s when someone grows up physically or mentally.
Personally, when I hear the phrase “to come of age” I immediately think of coming of age books and movies, like The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Steven Chbosky. They’re usually about how the main character transitions from their childhood to being an adult. They realize and learn important life lessons from others and/or their experiences.
We concluded the discussion by agreeing that it’s a transitional period from adolescence to adulthood where we realize things about ourselves or others. We also made a connection to the quinceañeras in Spanish culture, sweet sixteens in the US and Canada, and the bar and bat mitzvahs of Jewish culture. All of these are traditions that celebrate the transitions from childhood to adulthood.
Double-Entry Journals
After a class discussion of the Do Now, we were given an overview of what double-entry journals are. You may be familiar with them already from APWH assignments, but to refresh your memory, it’s similar to a T-chart. It’s a note-taking strategy that helps us analyze and get a clear understanding of texts.
On the left side of the chart, we quote parts of the text that stand out to us. On the right side of the chart, we share our opinions/reactions to the respective quote. We will use this later on in the lesson.
Narrative Voice Review
We began the main part of our lesson by watching a YouTube video that briefly went over narrative voice.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHl7mDZzfDw&ab_channel=mistersato411
Summary of the video: In fiction, a narrator is usually created by the writer to tell the story. The narrator’s perspective of the story is the narrative voice. The narrator can choose to tell the story in either the first, second, or third person.
First-person narrators speak to the reader directly, using pronouns such as I, we, and me.
Second-person narrators make the reader seem like they’re also a character in the story and use the pronouns you or yours.
Third-person narrators share with the readers the actions and thoughts of another character(s). Pronouns like they, he, and/or she are used.
Note: If you’d like to learn more about the narrative voices or get a better understanding of them, you can use this link: https://bit.ly/2NMA0uP
There are examples from famous texts and a full description of all the third-person narrative voice types out there.
Spirit Reading
As a class, we took turns reading lines by spirit reading from an excerpt of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, where we followed Melinda, the narrator, through her hectic first day of high school. As we read, we highlighted at least four quotes that showed diction, imagery, and syntax.
Review:
Diction: the word choices a writer makes; informal or formal speech?
Imagery: words or phrases that paint a picture in the reader’s mind
Syntax: are the sentences long, short, simple, or complex?
From Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson
1 I find my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.
2 I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.
3 The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.
4 I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast. There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.
5 The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.
6 Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.
7 I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no, Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding on to a football.
8 Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”
9 Me:
10 Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut.
11 Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”
12 Me:
13 It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.
14 Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”
Breakout Rooms/Group Work
After spirit reading, the class split into breakout rooms for group work.
Today’s group work assignment was to fill out the double-entry journal chart in our classwork document.
First, you would choose and insert 4 of your highlighted quotes into the first column of your double-entry journal chart. There should be one quote in each of the four boxes provided. You can shorten quotes using ellipses.
Note: Ellipses (...) replace omitted text when shortening quotes. They can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a quote.
Then, in the middle column, you put in your own reactions to each quote. Here are some sentence starters you can use for this section:
I really like/dislike this part because…
I wonder why…?
The diction/imagery creates a tone of…
This quote shows the narrator's / character’s voice by…
I predict that…
This reminds me of the time when I…
If it was me, I would…
Wow! I can’t believe...
Next, you would share your document with someone else in your group. Your group should collectively decide who is sharing to who to avoid confusion.
The person you shared with would then access your document, go to the last column of your double-entry journal, and comment on either the text or your commentary. They should include their names at the top of the column, too, where it asks for the partner’s name.
Below is my completed double-entry journal chart from the activity.
After group work, we had a short class discussion comparing our responses. We noticed that we all chose similar quotes or had similar opinions on the text.
Randy said that the first sentence of line 3 in the reading reminded him of a Thanksgiving meal.
Mei and Kelly both quoted text from lines 10-13. Mei said that it felt relatable because the teacher was speaking in a mocking tone and teachers in real life usually think that students can't speak up for themselves because they’re minors.
My partner and I both quoted from line 6 and said that the diction implies that Melinda is feeling embarrassed. The quote “...my face burning into their retinas” is something that you would only say if you felt uncomfortable or awkward.
Individual Activity
To finish up the day’s lesson, we individually found three quotes from the reading that best depict a teen girl’s voice through the use of diction, syntax, and imagery.
My quotes:
“...humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over-involved mother?”
“Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”?”
“They all swear at him—a bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits.”
I picked these sentences because they all have informal language and slang. Some examples are the words “geek”, “bozo”, and “zits”.
Finally, we had to answer the following two questions by ourselves.
Does Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue seem authentic? Why or why not?
What inferences can students draw based on her voice? From her voicelessness?
Note: Voicelessness refers to the parts where Melinda didn’t use her voice. This includes her inner thoughts and feelings.
Here are my responses:
Yes, Melinda’s inner monologue seems authentic because I can relate to it. For example, when she talks about how the entire lunchroom was staring at her and she can feel her face burning, although I haven’t been in that exact situation before, I know that when a lot of people are watching your every move, you become nervous or embarrassed.
Based on her voicelessness, I can infer that Melinda is reserved and introverted. She doesn’t like interaction with people she is unfamiliar with and prefers to avoid confrontation. Instead of asking others around her how they got the cheeseburgers and Ho-Hos, for example, she preferred to just go with whatever she could get.
Reflection
In this lesson, I learned the importance of diction, syntax, and imagery in writing. These elements all help students think about what they read and force them to make connections to the real world. Although words like “geek” and “hip” are no longer used by today’s teens, readers can still infer that the main character of Speak, Melinda, is an adolescent based on the informal sentences, use of slang, and descriptions of relatable feelings. Additionally, they make the reading more interesting. For example, the sentence “All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas” is much more descriptive compared to something like “Everybody stops talking to look at me and I’m embarrassed.” If I ever feel that an essay I’m writing is bland, I know that I can adjust my diction and syntax, or add imagery for some flavor.
I also learned how the use of a double-entry journal can be helpful when analyzing text in ELA. It allows you to annotate in a more organized manner. I can keep track of how the writer chooses to convey their ideas while making my own inferences on what’s happening or sharing my reactions. Although I don’t prefer this method of note-taking, I know that this is a helpful option I can go back to and should use for close reading.
Lastly, although what we learned from the video on narrative voice was mostly a review, I was able to connect it to the use of diction, syntax, and imagery. The three elements build upon narrative voice. For example, diction influences narrative voice in that word connotations alter the tone/mood of the story. While establishing whether the story should be told in the first, second, or third-person perspective is important, writers should also make sure the proper tone and mood are illustrated. I can use what I learned from this connection to help improve my style in my writing.
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